If you’re looking to save time while marketing your store on Instagram, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, I’ll share a time hack to speed up posting on IG for your business.

But before I dive into the tip, we need to get our feet wet by talking hashtags. I get SO many questions about hashtags. What the heck is a hashtag? When should I use them? Can anything be used as a hashtag? How many should I use? Where can I use them?

Have you had any of these questions? I bet you have. I created a quick, helpful video for you titled, “What the heck’s a hashtag?”. It’s a retailer’s version to better understand what a hashtag is and what kinds of hashtags you should be using. BUT BEFORE YOU WATCH…please note: I filmed this in 2013…yes, 2013!!! It all still applies and is filled with lots of hashtag tips and examples. Since recording this video, I recommend not using many hashtags on Facebook, but definitely use them on Instagram! Here’s the video:

Ok, now that you’ve watched the video and fully understand hashtags, let’s jump into the time-saving Instagram tip. 😊

As you learned, including hashtags on your posts are a must to drive users to your profile and ensure your content gets found. But creating impactful hashtags or typing in up to 30 hashtags per post for every single post can be time-consuming and daunting.

Here are two time hacks to help:

Create 3-5 groups (or more if you’re really active on IG) of hashtags that you find yourself consistently using. Open up Notes on your phone, enter each of the groupings of hashtags, and the next time you’re posting to IG just open up that hashtag Note, copy the group of hashtags you want to use, and paste them into the IG caption.

Another option (my preferred way) is to create a keyboard shortcut on your phone. Trust me, this is so simple to set up. Below are written instructions as well as a step-by-step video on how to easily set this up:

For iPhone:

Tap Settings icon, then tap General, then tap Keyboard.

Tap on Text Replacement, then tap the + symbol in the top right corner.

In the Phrase field, type in the entire phrase or groupings of hashtags you’d like to create a shortcut for.

In the Shortcut field, type the name of the groupings or phrase. For example “Group1” or just “1” or categorize it such as “NewProduct” or “Events”.

Now, let’s test. Compose a new Instagram post and type the shortcode you created in the caption. When you do, you should see your shortcut appear as a text-substitution button just above the keypad.

Tap the + button in the top-right corner of the screen, then type the word or text string that’ll trigger the shortcut.

In the next line, type in the actual phrase/groupings of hashtags you want to appear when you type the shortcut, such as “#yourlocation #typeofproduct #categoryofpost”. Unfortunately, the phrase is limited to about 50 characters.

Tap the Backbutton and you should see your shortcut appear as an entry on the Personal dictionary screen. Tap + to add another shortcut.

Now, let’s test. Compose a new Instagram post and type the shortcode you created in the caption. When you do, you should see your shortcut appear as a text-substitution button just above the keypad.

Don’t put this off! Spend 5-10 minutes to get your hashtag groupings stored either in Notes or as keyboard shortcuts and utilize these moving forward every time you post to your IG feed.

NOTE: You can modify the hashtags anytime if you don’t always want to use the exact same ones in your groupings, or if you want to mix up the order, and I recommend you do this. Sometimes, the groupings are a good baseline as is and other times useful to build from. Make sense?

With Instagram being one of the best retailer apps to sell products and build raving fans, it’s imperative to learn how to successfully market your store using it. And great news! My brand-new Instagram for Retailers Training Course is now available!Click here to get it today for only $397!

If you have any questions about Instagram or the new training course, click here to shoot my team an email. We’re happy to help.

We just wrapped up a busy summer show and conference season at the beginning of this month. While at these shows, we get asked a lot of the same questions about social, so we felt like sharing with you the top 3 social media questions we get asked (and our answers!) while on the road – we’re sure you have them too!

Watch the full episode:

Mark your calendars! Doors to Social to Sale are opening on Monday, September 10th! Make sure youjoin the waitlist in order to receive the latest announcements as we get closer to opening day.

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

I’m sure you’ve wondered at one point or another if you’re sharing too much or too little on social media especially if you’re not seeing the amount of engagement you were hoping for. Which is why we want to provide some clarity on how often you should be posting to social media and explain the importance of having a strategy when it comes to what you’re sharing on social.

Watch full episode:

Do you need help setting up a social media strategy or can improve the one you already have? Let us help you with that!

We’re opening enrollment to our Social to Sale training course next month – it only happens twice a year! Join the waitlist here.

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

Here at Social Edge, we strive to help independent retailers see success through social media by implementing tried and true strategies. In this case study and success story sent in from a Social Edge Insider, Heather Waits, Owner of Bloomtastic Florist in Columbus, OH, you’ll learn how she used a Facebook Ad to reach one of her S.M.A.R.T business goals.

Watch the full episode:

Her Problem

Heather had a few dates available on the calendar for weddings her business needed to fill for the Fall wedding season.

Her Solution

Run a Post Engagement Ad on a $ 50-lifetime budget to a targeted audience of brides who got engaged in the past 12 months and located within 20 miles of her store. See the ad image and copy used below:

Her Results

The ad had been running for less than a week and had garnered 69 post engagements and Bloomtastic Florist received 5 leads in a single day (avg=1 lead a day). Her average cost for a wedding is $2,000, so with one wedding booked from a $50 ad, that’s a profit of $1,500 (and she booked 2 of those 5 brides!). See results below:

Running the right Facebook Ads can have a significant impact on your overall business. This is a great example of how targeting the right audience can get you in front of the right people which can lead to increased profit and help you meet your business goals, which ultimately helps keep your business operating at it’s highest potential.

The key takeaway is to make sure you’re setting S.M.A.R.T goals in order to reverse engineer your strategy to come up with the ideal plan to reach those goals.

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and you know what that means: sale, sales, and more sales. One foolproof promotion we always recommend running as a small business is a 12 Days of Christmas Campaign. For those of you who unfamiliar with a 12 Days of Christmas Campaign, let us break it down for you.

What it is:

It’s a 12-day super sale that happens during the month of December. Each day a special deal on a new featured item is available to your customers. The featured items can be seasonal, high-ticket or items that need to sell before Christmas, like decorations and gifts. You want it to be a nice, cohesive blend of items that peak customer interest.

How to run it:

You should announce the deal of the day the night before or early that morning allowing it to be available as long as possible. Announce it across all your social platforms. We suggest going live or sharing a pre-record a video (you can’t escape using video!). You’ll then support the announcement with an email marketing blast and posts on Instagram, Instagram Stories, Snapchat, etc. Make it clear about what the deal is, include dates, exclusions, while supplies last if you don’t plan on ordering more. You want to create a sense of urgency so people come shop in-store that day! Offer to hold items for people if they comment online or call your store, but set a time limit for how long you’ll be able to hold it for.

When to run it:

Retailers run it beginning December 1st or December 12th. Many prefer starting on the 1st to avoid having it end so close to Christmas.

Best Practices:

Whether people mention the promotion or not, the deal of the day is applicable to anyone shopping in-store. It’s all about experience, and only offering the deal to some people and no others is going to create a bad experience.

You typically don’t make much profit on the featured item since it’s being discounted. It’s you and your team’s goal to upsell and get people shopping to spend more while in-store. Also, use this as a tool to collect as much new customer information as possible to help you with future marketing and sales initiatives.

Is your deal good enough to get people through the door? Do your best to stand out and catch people’s attention.

Promote each deal to get the most exposure and to fully optimize it. You don’t have to break the bank to get your pots seen. We’ve seen success in as little as a $25 budget over the full 12 Days. It’s all a numbers game, the more people that see your deal the more foot traffic you’ll be able to get. Look back at email open rates and video views to make sure people are seeing it, and make adjustments accordingly.

You can catch new episodes every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.